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Activities
Use the links below to read about Lower Salford Elementary School activities:
Bucket Filling Program
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This is a new school-wide initiative based upon the book written by Carol McCloud: Have You Filled A Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness For Kids. Sometimes children have trouble getting along at school. This book introduces the idea that everyone in the world has his or her own invisible bucket in which they carry good thoughts and feelings about themselves. People are happy when their buckets are full and sad when they are not. "Bucket fillers" are those who share good feelings with others, they help without being asked, give hugs and compliments, and generally spread their love and good feelings to others. This simple metaphor of a bucket helps children understand the importance of consideration and love. Bullying is bucket dipping and this choice brings sadness and loneliness to your life and the lives of others. The book and presentations are designed to:
- Make bucket filling and other-centeredness a daily habit
- Preempt and reduce mean, bullying, bucket-dipping behaviors
- Empower children to deal with bucket dippers
- Help children learn about choices and consequences
- Create safe, positive, nurturing schools
- Strengthen families and build better relationships
We hope that by bringing this self-affirming program to our school, we can create a positive school environment for our children.
On Monday, October 8th, Carol McCloud will come to our school to make age- appropriate presentations to the children and then hold a workshop for the teachers. Finally, that night she will make a presentation to all interested parents at our Home & School meeting at 7:00 p.m. That way we will all know the principals of bucket filling and can help our children make it a part of their daily lives. By giving the children a simple vocabulary of "bucket filling" we help them to make treating others with love and respect a daily part of their lives. Please make a special effort to attend and to implement this philosophy in your life. We can all use some bucket filling in this world. This program is brought through the generosity of Mrs. Cathy Griffo and the money she was awarded by the Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year Award and the Lower Salford Home & School Association.
DARE
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DARE, Drug Abuse Resistance Education, is part of the Fourth Grade curriculum in all the Souderton Area School District elementary schools. The DARE curriculum lasts 17 weeks, with local police officers teaching one lesson each week. The lessons, though essentially about abstaining from drugs, alcohol, the use of tobacco, and violence, also teach and demonstrate essential life skills. These skills provide Fourth graders information about getting along with peers, learning how to say no to things they DON'T want to be involved with, and about how to get out of a situation that they don.t want to be in. Students learn that everyone is not doing drugs and that there are better ways to solve problems than with violence. Essentially, DARE helps our students practice thinking for themselves.
During the weekly classroom lessons, the officer teaches students about the pressures in their lives. They explain how pressures come from family, peers, self and the media. They help students decide ways to handle stress. The officers show the students that there are three major ways to handle situations - assertively, passively, or aggressively. They teach and demonstrate that the best way to handle stress is assertively. The officers explain what support groups are; such as sports teams, scouts, church youth groups, JUST SAY NO, etc. and how groups help us. During the lessons, students practice eight ways to say no by participating in skits. At the end of the 17 weeks, the students graduate from the program.
In the Souderton Area School District, the elementary schools celebrate the students' learning in a variety of ways. The students may demonstrate to their parents the skills they learned by singing, dancing or speaking. Officer Haney, one of the officers who teaches DARE in the Souderton Area School District that, "IT IS EASIER TO GET INTO TROUBLE THAN IT IS TO GET OUT OF TROUBLE INTO TROUBLE THAN IT IS TO GET OUT OF TROUBLE". DARE is teaching students important skills that they can use for the rest of their lives.
Foreign Language Experience Program - FLEX
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The Bucks County Community College in cooperation with the Souderton Area School District offers a foreign language experience program in Spanish for grades 1-4. The program provides children a rich, multi-sensory, second language environment that takes advantage of a child's energy, curiosity, and natural ability to acquire language. In a relaxed atmosphere, students begin to develop listening and speaking skills. Children in the upper grades will begin to work on recognition skills. The program will be organized around the following objectives:
- To recognize and be able to reproduce the sounds of the language
- To respond to and offer greetings
- To recognize and be able to say numbers in different ranges according to course level
- To carry out directive statements from the teacher in the target language
- To learn to orally identify vocabulary works from among the following topics: colors, animals, weather, body parts, clothing, food, family, community workers, everyday objects
- To understand and give answers to simple question relating to themselves; that is, name, age, etc.
- To sing songs, play games and engage in a wide variety of activities in the second language
- To identify the countries in which the target language is spoken
- To explore cultural similarities and differences via discussions of customs, traditions, holidays, the family unit, etc.
Just Say No
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The Just Say No club at the elementary level is offered to intermediate elementary students. During their time together the students memorize pledges, participate in activities (such as service projects), and view programs to enhance their excitement about life. The underlying message is "JUST SAY NO" to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.
"3 Steps to Say No"
- Figure out if what your friend wants is O.K.
- If it's wrong, say No.
- Suggest other things to do instead.
"Just Say No" Pledge
I pledge to lead a drug-free life.
I want to be healthy and happy.
I will say No to alcohol.
I will say No to tobacco.
I will say No to illegal drugs.
I will help my friends say No.
I pledge to stand up for what I know is right.
~ 1989 "Just Say No" International
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